Barry Pollack discusses white collar cases and trends to watch in 2012. He first comments on the case against John Edwards, who is accused of illegally using campaign donations to cover up an extramarital affair that resulted in a child during the 2008 presidential campaign cycle. "Herman Cain should probably pay close attention to the Edwards case," said Pollack, noting that Cain dealt with his own allegations of sexual impropriety during his 2011 run for the Republican presidential nomination. "I think it's a very aggressive prosecution, and I think if it is successful it will cause a lot of politicians to rethink how they handle campaign finance issues," Pollack said.

Some attorneys predict that political pressure may finally push state attorneys general and the DOJ to file criminal charges against those involved in the mortgage meltdown and related securities debacles. "I think that the department feels that pressure keenly," said Pollack. "It doesn't take that many op-ed articles wondering why nobody has been prosecuted to get the department's attention."

However, that does not mean that there have been crimes committed that should be prosecuted. "There's almost an expectation that if you read something in the newspaper that upsets you, that there's going to be a criminal investigation," Pollack said. "I think that's a troubling development. Sometimes bad things happen that simply aren't federal criminal matters."